wouldn't it be nice?

Sweden has been very good to me


In the final installment of furniture purchasing (I hope) and for lack of a better FHE activity idea, Robbie and I finally made that inevitable trek to everyone's favorite Swedish home outfitter, IKEA. (For a funny and true post about the perils of IKEA, go here.) And we made it through relatively unscathed, probably because we're currently less concerned with aesthetics (I did mention the cardboard box nightstand, correct?) and more concerned with how cheap things are and if it will hold stuff. So now we're the proud owners of the LACK coffee table (along with 16,278 other married college students) and the EXPEDIT bookcase. Hallelujah, we too now sing the praises of particle board and the "black-brown effect." Sidenote: in the Clayton tradition, I enjoy walking through IKEA and reading aloud the names of every single product name with an exaggerated accent. (Well, I read everything out loud everywhere I go, but in IKEA it's just way more fun.) My personal favorite is "FANSTA!" or pretty much anything that ends in "sta."

In continuing with our love of Sweden and in celebration of our pioneer ancestry, we attended a performance of ARRIVAL, "The World's Greatest ABBA Show Band Ever!" Is that an appropriate Pioneer Day Activity? Even if it means missing seeing Design Mom at the Faulconer's annual Pig Roast? (We did get to go for about an hour, and even though the pig was a little bit scary looking, it was so tasty, and I always enjoy seeing Kacy and Christian, even if it means I have to see a dead pig laying on a table.) My final answer is yes, it is appropriate, even though technically I think that I have Norwegian ancestry, not Swedish. But I was raised on Super Trouper on vinyl, and I know all the words to "Happy New Year" and "The Piper," so it basically counts as my ancestry.

Anyway, I think that Arrival really lived up to their little tagline. The costumes! The spectacle! The backup singers! The Bjorn look-alike really looked like the original. Ani-Fried and Agnetha just poured their heart and soul into "Fernando" and "The Winner Takes It All." I'm still not sure about Benny but I did enjoy his tank top and how tall he was. We were also speculating about how cover bands form. Did they all just look in the mirror one day and realize, "I am Swedish AND I look like a member of ABBA. I have found my life's calling!" Whatever it was, we are all surely benefiting from this realization. BONUS: one of ABBA's original guitarists came to perform with the band. Awesome! Not sure what his name was but maybe it was this guy?

Luckily for me, we got some Terrill loving when Harry and Dawn took a detour on their Utah vacation and stopped by to see the show. Since there was only a small contingent of ABBA fans present (me, Veronica, Carrie), it was nice to have two more true ABBA believers added to the mix. (Yes, pretty sure that Harry also knows all the words to "Happy New Year.") As for Robbie and Kyle... sorry that you only know about 4 ABBA songs. As for my absent siblings and parents, I'm really sad you weren't there, but I'd be willing to travel to go see them with you. (Or heck, we could rendezvous at the museum??)

Highlights, and then some pictures and videos (only partial videos because I kept running out of space on my card) (Also, sorry about how long this is. The people who care will read it, and the rest will just WISH that they loved ABBA as much as I do.):
-The backup dancers.
-Bjorn's mad piano skills.
-The costumes! Exact replicas! Mini-skirts! Ponchos! Knee-high platform boots!
-The lady sitting directly behind Carrie wearing a hat and singing falsetto along with every song, and also gradually scooting closer and closer to her until she was piggy-backing on Carrie/sitting on our blanket.

I also enjoyed when she held up her camera to videotape some stuff and it had a really bright light on it.
-Oh man, the FINALE when they played "Dancing Queen," which I think is a kind of overrated song (don't hate me?), BUT they did shoot off these confetti fireworks at the beginning of the song during that flourish (you know what I'm talking about?), and I didn't get a video of it but I got chills. Seriously.
-Baby Harry and Porter dancing. Always funny, the White Boy Shuffle.

-Playing "Summer Night City" AND "Thank You For The Music"... I was a little disappointed at the exclusion of "Lay All Your Love On Me" and "The Piper" (I guess I shouldn't be surprised at that), but they did play the lesser known "Eagle" which gave us some hope. PS, the dance moves accompanying "Eagle" were pretty awesome.

"Chiquitita"--this one is short. Audience interaction! Funny.


"Thank You For The Music"--also short. Just my favorite line from the song.


"Summer Night City"--shaky snippet.


"Dancing Queen"--I was hoping they'd do the confetti again, but alas, they didn't.


"Waterloo"--longer, but their dance moves are just so cute.